Of all the world’s magical creatures and mythical beasts, dragons are among the most prolific. Appearing all over the globe in various cultures, they hold a special place in the human imagination. If you enjoy tales of dragons, why not have a go at making your own origami dragon to help act out the stories? All you need is a single sheet of square paper. There’s not cutting or glueing to do - you can simply fold the mythical beast into life! Here’s how.
Step 1
Choose a piece of paper in the colour you’d like your dragon to be. It should be 25cm x 25cm. Fold it diagonally from corner to corner, both ways, then open it back up. Turn the paper over and fold it in half horizontally and vertically. Open it back up.
Step 2
Turn the paper back over and push the four corners towards the centre. You should now have a folded square. Lay it in a diamond shape, keeping the open side down.
Step 3
Now take the lower diagonal edge of the first layer and bring it to the middle to make a new diagonal fold. Repeat on the left, then unfold both. Open up the top layer upwards and bring both sides to the middle to create an elongated diamond shape. Turn the paper over and repeat this whole step with the top layer on that side.
Step 4
Fold a new diagonal on the right side, bringing the edge to the middle. Repeat on the left. Turn the paper over and repeat.
Step 5
Open the right side and bring it out to the side. Bring the crease down the centre of the flap up, reversing the paper. Now fold the right side of the paper over the flap you have just reversed. Repeat on the left. You should now have two long, slim triangles sticking out to each side.
Step 6
Fold the larger flaps in the centre downwards so the middle of your model is a kite shape. Hold the bottom section of the kite on each side and pull gently, so that the top triangular section of the kite opens into a square shape when seen from above. Pince the sides of the square together so that you create a fold along the middle of it. Your paper should now have a dragon form, with a head, tail and wings.
Step 7
To create the wings, take one of the large flaps and fold the left diagonal edge to the horizontal above. The downward point of your kite shape should now be facing right. Repeat with the other wing. Now fold the pointed part of the kite shape along the horizontal line on both wings. Then open them out slightly so they are spread.
Step 8
To make the head, open up the left hand slim triangle (created in Step 5) a little and reverse the paper, so the centre crease points upwards. Next Fold a horizontal line downwards, then another upwards a little further towards the tip of the triangle.
There you have it! An origami dragon for your stories.
See dragons live
You can see dragons live on stage this year with Dragons and Mythical Beasts Live, which is currently touring the US and Canada. Book your tickets today to join the adventure.